Caught in the Action
by Marion Quixote
Summary: When the Sci-Fi channel makes up a contest for a visit to Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Marion sees this as a chance to experience a little bit of Stargate for herself. Too bad she didn't realize just how close she'd get to the real life adventures of SG-1.
1. Chapter 1

Ok, so this is my second fic ever. I've been entertaining the idea for a while now of what if Stargate: SG-1 is to reality as Wormhole X-treme is to Stargate: SG-1. It's told from my POV, which is probably unusual for most fics. My real name isn't Marion, but it is in on much of the internet. I really hope you enjoy this. This is only the first chapter. I really hope it goes over well and that I don't let it die, since I've got a lot of ideas for this fic swimming around in my head.

Also, if you want to read a review, please don't hurt me. I'm very new that this. I don't have a Beta, so any and all mistakes are mine. Thankfully, I've got pretty good grammar, and comma splices are a major pet peeve. Characterization might be my worst enemy, but as you'll see in later chapters, it probably won't be much of a problem.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, so very unfortunately.

...

Hi. My name is Marion, and this is how I saved the world.

* * *

_Another boring day on teh internetz_, I thought to myself. The sky was dark and gloomy, full of clouds that seemed about to burst at any second. The wind whipped through the trees. A storm was brewing, and when there's a storm that looks like _that_ brewing in Iowa, it's just smarter to stay inside. I stared at the screen. _Eh, well, at least I wasn't called in to work today._ _Well, I checked my e-mail, bought that book, paid my credit card bill…maybe I'll check out the SG-1 stories on some fanfiction website. I'll look for a good, novel length one…_I searched around but I couldn't find anything that piqued my interest. _Well, Mar, that's what you get when you read these too often. I'm sure one will turn up, but later._ _What to do…what to do…_I decided to check what Stargate episode was on television that night. _Window of Opportunity? Yes! That one's a classic._

It was then that I saw the tiny advertisement on the side of the screen. "Win a trip to Cheyenne Mountain Base in Colorado!" _Well, that's odd. I wonder what happened to the Get in the 'Gate Sweepstakes. Being an extra on the show would be awesome, but what the heck could anyone want to see at Cheyenne Mountain? And how did the Sci-Fi Channel manage to get the United States government to let some crazy Sci-Fi fan into a top secret military facility? I doubt that they'd let anyone into the really interesting parts anyway, although I'm sure some people would be thrilled to see the outside of it._ An image danced in my head of my Stargate-obsessed best friend, Ashley, jumping up and down outside the gate to the base, screaming "Oh my God! This is where the show is set! Oh my God! Down there is where the Stargate would be if it existed! Oh my God! Jack O'Neill would work here if the show were actually real!" Out of curiosity, I clicked the link and read. "Win a trip to Cheyenne Mountain Base, the setting of the hit TV series _Stargate: SG-1_. You and a friend will be treated to a tour of the Base, escorted by an airman of the USAF and none other than Michael Shanks! (My heart palpitated a little when I read those last two words.) The Grand Prize winner will also receive… yada yada yada." _Well, Michael Shanks is reason enough to enter this little drawing_, I thought. I filled in the form, submitted it, and didn't think about this day for two months.

* * *

The sun shone brightly as I walked out to my mailbox. This was supposed to be another uneventful day, but that all changed as I looked through my mail. _Bill…bill…another bill…please give us your money…send this to six people or die…we beg of you to give us your money…hey, what's this?_ A letter with a return address of Sci-Fi Channel caught my eye. _No way. _I opened the letter as I walked back into the house. I hurried up the stairs and quickly opened the door to go inside. As I shut the door, I noticed how fast my heart was beating and that my breaths had quickened as if I had just finished running a mile. Two words would not leave my mind: Michael Shanks. _Oh Man. Oh Man. _I read the letter:

Dear Marion,

Congratulations! You are the winner of our Cheyenne Mountain Sweepstakes! This includes round trip airfare for two to Colorado Springs where you and a friend will stay in a four-star hotel…

_(Blah blah blah…Michael Shanks! What about Michael Shanks! Ah, here we go…)_

When you arrive at Cheyenne Mountain Base you will be greeted by Michael Shanks, who plays the role of Dr. Daniel Jackson. _(No kidding! _I swooned a little bit, realizing the implications of this letter._) _He and an airman in the United States Air Force will give you a tour of the facilities, including the north entrance where transition scenes are often shot. (_Well, if they're bragging about being able to show me the outside of the building, there's no way I'll get to see anything remotely interesting on the inside.)_ Since this is a top secret military base, you must submit to a background check in order to obtain security clearance _(Blah blah blah…formalities…blah blah blah…Heck, I've spent the last 8 years in school working towards a Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering. I don't have time for felonies, and before that, I was a minor. I'd like to see them try to find a splotch on my record… Blah blah blah paperwork, blah blah blah forms…)_

Sincerely,

Nathan B. Carriage

President of Sci-fi Broadcasting

I continued staring at the letter which was shaking in my hands. Although I loved Stargate: SG-1, I never was much of an obsessed fan, although I did have my moments. My fanfiction addiction was a testament to that. However, I never was all that interested in meeting the stars, or going to a convention, or visiting the sets, or anything of that nature, but suddenly I had never wanted anything more in my whole life. I had the urge to make t-shirts with snarky Jack O'Neill quotes on them. I wanted to buy the ten season box set again and leave it in the wrapping, putting it on display and then watch every single episode contained in the box set that I already owned and not leave the house for a week or two. I wanted to go to the Air Force Academy and get my Ph.D. in theoretical astrophysics and go on an archaeological dig in Egypt and learn to speak Arabic. I wanted to learn to fight and be able to kill a man with my own two hands…

When I got to that point, I realized I needed to calm down a bit. I needed something to distract me. _Well, it says trip for two. Who should I bring along?_...

…

I picked up the phone and dialed Ashley's number.

"Hello?"

"Ashley?"

"Yeah?"

"Hey, it's Marion."

"Mar! Hey! I haven't seen you in a while! What's up?"

"Well, did you hear a while back about that sweepstakes Sci-Fi put on-

"Where the winner gets a tour of Cheyenne Mountain with none other than Michael Shanks and a more than likely spectacular looking USAF airman as tour guides? Yeah, I heard. I entered. I didn't win. I'm bitter." She chuckled a bit, breaking the sarcastic tone she previously had in her voice. "What about it?"

"Well, I won."

There was a bout of silence on her end of the line. Seeing as we've been friends since my freshman year in high school, I could imagine the look on her face. First, a bit of blinking in disbelief. Then her eyes got wide as dinner plates, slowly taking in all that those three words meant. "Wh-wh-what?"

"I won."

"No you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

"No way." I could hear her grinning in her voice.

"Yes way." I was starting to laugh a bit myself.

"Oh my God!"

"And I want you to come with me."

"AH! I'm coming over!"

Now, I love this girl to death, but when she gets on a Stargate rampage, she goes and goes and goes. I feared I had released a monster. When she got to my door, she appeared relatively sane, and I was hopeful that she would stay that way, but when she walked through my door, all hell broke loose. Imagine a boy-band fan-girl who won front row seats to her favorite group's concert and just got to touch the hand of the lead singer. Now, multiply that by a thousand. I wish I were exaggerating. It took me threatening her spot on the tour to get her to calm down. She sat down on the couch and stared at the floor, consciously trying to get her emotions in check. I waited about a minute.

"Ok, so are you better now?"

"I…I…think…so," she wheezed, gasping for air. All that jumping up and down, screaming, running in circles, crying "I'm going to Cheyenne Mountain! I'm going to meet Michael Shanks! I'm going to be where the Stargate would be if it were real!" left her quite breathless.

"Now, I hope you got that completely out of your system, because I don't want you making a fool out of yourself once we get there."

"I think so. Thanks, Mar, for your concern." Her voice oozed with sarcasm.

"No need to get snarky, m'dear. Must I remind you that I have the power to leave you at home? It wouldn't be such a loss. I'd get my Dr. Jackson all to myself," I said with a coy smile.

She laughed. "Eh, you can have him. I'm an O'Neill girl anyway. I'll try my luck with that airman we were promised."

"Good. Now, we've got a choice among these three dates. They're all fine for me. I've been working a lot of overtime lately, and my boss is actually starting to nag me about taking some time off. He'll be glad to get me out of the lab."

"Well, I think the 15th would be best for me."

"The 15th it is, then. I'll just put the reply in the mail. Oh, you haven't committed any felonies lately, have you?"

She laughed. "No. I got a speeding ticket last week though. Do you think that would prevent me from getting on base?"

"I doubt that. We're probably only getting the least amount of security clearance possible anyway." I let out a forlorn sigh. "We aren't going to see anything interesting in there. It's such a shame."

"You just love your big, expensive scientific equipment, no matter what it does. By the time you're out of there, you're going to be a NORAD expert."

"Well, I was planning on becoming an expert beforehand, but…"

"You are such a nerd."

"I know."

"Well, you've got a month. Think you can master aerospace surveillance in a month?"

"Aerospace surveillance? Oh yeah, they don't actually do deep space telemetry there, do they. Oh, well. Aerospace surveillance doesn't sound nearly as interesting, but I guess I'll give it a go."

TBC

* * *

All right, so there's part one. Can you see where this is going? I hope not. I want the next chapters to be surprise! haha.


	2. Chapter 2

FYI, I'll be switching between first person (Marion's point of view) and third person omniscient throughout the story, but it shouldn't be hard to differentiate. I hadn't realized that putting the main character as oneself was considered Mary Sue-ish, but I promise, since I myself am not perfect and wonderful, nor will Marion be. She'll really only be based on me anyway, the way I imagine this story playing out.

And sorry it's taken me…over six months (!) to update. I lost interest for a while, but then I looked and saw I had subscribers and felt bad. Haha. But guilt isn't my only motivation. This is a surprisingly fun creative outlet. However, you probably shouldn't expect anything from me until after school lets out at the beginning of May. I might make a foray into the Harry Potter fandom and write a oneshot or two, but this is a bigger project and will take more planning.

And if you're wondering about a timeline, there really isn't one, but I'm taking inspiration from seasons 1-7ish.

Please review. I'll take all your comments to heart. Plus, if you have any advice, I'd be glad to hear it. I'm still very new at this.

* * *

SG-1 was in a tizzy.

"You can't be serious," said Colonel Neal O'Toole, a dumfounded expression on his face.

"Sir, how can we allow this? There are millions of different things that could happen because of their presence here on base that could compromise our work here. Not even that fact that we are allowing a television network control our actions."

"Alex has got a point, General. What if something happens so that we're all confined here, like a breakout of an alien disease, or these fan-girls see something that they just shouldn't see. It's a huge risk, especially since I've got some artifacts coming back from Area 51 that day that have finished being analyzed. What if they see them? They're not exactly what anyone would describe as earthly, although the writing does seem to have Mesoamerican roots, and..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've got it," said the Colonel. He wasn't in the mood for a history lesson.

"I concur, DavidErikson. This is most definitely poor judgment on the part of the, as you would say, 'higher-ups.'"

"Now, now, let's not overreact. These two ladies are under the impression that NORAD is the only thing that goes on in this facility. They will be given the lowest amount of security clearance possible, and the only areas inside the base that they will be seeing are some labs on the top five floors and the commissary, and they won't be here more than an hour. I don't like this idea much, either, but it'll be good PR, and having two huge fans of the show come back from the experience without any new 'conspiracy theories' to add to the mix would probably do us quite a bit of good."

The Colonel sighed and sunk a bit in his chair, admitting defeat. Yesterday's mission had been a long one, and although he enjoyed a good argument, today, he just did not have the energy. "I guess we can deal with it, but…it's just that show…have any of you ever watched it and felt like it was a little, I don't know, spooky? Like someone has been following us around for the past 5 years, logging every mission down to the quirks in our personalities."

"Well, it _is_ based off Martin's experiences here with us at the SGC…but you do have a point, sir. And how does he know so much about the Goa'uld? It seems unlikely he picked up so much knowledge just from spending a few days with us."

General Portwell spoke up. "As to that, the 'higher ups' thought that the closer to the truth the show was, the better our plausible deniability would hold up against scrutiny. Whether the _logic_ will hold up or not is anyone's guess, but it was not my decision."

David chuckled. "Well, there definitely are some inconsistencies. From what I've seen, they draw fairly accurately from history and culture, but I'll never get over how multiple galaxies, with the exception of one planet, speak English as their primary language. Even the Goa'uld don't bother speaking Goa'uld more than a few _kree_s and _Shol'va_s."

"I'm just glad our own lives aren't nearly as dramatic as they put in the show. I know what we do is dangerous, but do they really have to have Daniel die fifteen times a season? Sam can't hold a boyfriend for more than a month without him dying in some way, and both Teal'c and O'Neill's marriages are toast." O'Toole said this with a surprising amount of frustration. "AND they killed off my kid! What the hell kind of people _are_ these writers? That's just cruel."

"By the way, how is Darcy, sir?"

A smile lit up O'Toole's face. "Great. MVP at the hockey tournament last weekend. She was the only girl out of all the teams, too. Two games in a row she had hat-tricks and-"

"Anyway," the General butted in, stopping the Colonel from bragging any more about his talented daughter, "this is happening whether we like it or not, and it shouldn't affect us besides not being able to go above level 18 between 1500 and 1630 on the 15th. That's most of the reason why I called this briefing for you four. These two ladies are big fans of the show. I don't want any suspicions being raised about the show's real –life counterparts. Now, I'm sure you've all got work to do. Dismissed."

SG-1 filed out of the briefing room, still unsure of what to think of the situation at hand, pensive looks on their faces. Major Carmichael broke the silence, "So, Colonel, do you watch the show often?"

"What?"

"Well, you seem rather knowledgeable about the show, sir. Are you a fan?"

"Carmichael…"

"Sir?"

He hated how she could tease him and be slightly disrespectful but not even borderline insubordinate. "So? I don't have much better to do on Friday nights when I'm not off-world. I blame Darcy actually. She started watching a while ago, and I made it into father-daughter bonding time…and she likes to pretend that I have a cool job like Colonel O'Neill, instead of being stuck under a mountain when I'm not out of the country going on 'diplomatic excursions'. Ironic, eh?"

Alex chuckled. "Yes sir."

"I, however, doubt that she is completely fooled by the cover story. We are all familiar with your skills in diplomacy, or lack thereof, and it is quite possible that DarcyO'Toole sees this as well."

"Thanks, J," replied the Colonel, an annoyed look on his face.

"You are welcome, O'Toole."

The Colonel's look turned from annoyed to disbelief. "Ja'tok, I wasn't actually thanking you."

"Then why did you show your appreciation for-"

"Never mind, J." _For crying out loud, he's been on earth for the past 4 years. You'd think he'd pick up on sarcasm by now,_ thought O'Toole. At the same time, Ja'tok wondered how long it would be until O'Toole would figure out that he was not truly ignorant to the Tau'ri's strange sense of humor and even used it himself on occasion. "Anyway, besides some annoying things having to do with our personal lives, the writing's good and the special effects are good, and watching the show is a generally enjoyable experience. David, you know what I'm talking about."

"Excuse me?" the young archaeologist replied, blushing just enough for O'Toole to detect it.

"C'mon, Erikson. I know you watch it too. You outed yourself back there during the briefing. No point in lying about it now."

"Okay, I admit it. I find it to be an interesting experience. It's like watching a version of me from an alternate reality who-

"manages to get a girl on every planet. Too bad for the real-life you, that's the exception rather than the rule."

David tried to pretend that the Colonel's statement about his love life didn't bother him, but he knew his face would betray him eventually, so he managed to chuckle and say, "Yeah, too bad for me. Well, I've got some translations from P4X-299 that I've got to finish before SG-7's mission tomorrow. I'll see you all later." He turned and walked briskly toward his office.

"What's his problem?"

"With all due respect, sir, you were rather obtuse with him just now. I know it's been two years, but…" She trailed off, leaving O'Toole to think about how what he said had probably affected David.

He sighed. "Yeah." Unfortunately, the show's story arc involving Daniel's wife being taken as a Goa'uld host was all too true. However, they had managed to find her, but the Goauld killed itself and took Na'fey with it rather than be extracted by the Tok'ra. David often thought of the woman who stole his heart on Abydos and how little time he had with her. Even after two years, grief still left pain in his heart, more of a twinge than the ache it once had been, but it was still there.

It was Alex who finally broke the slightly-uncomfortable silence. "Well, I've got some work to do on that…thing that SG-11 brought in last week. I've been working for three days and I still have no idea what it does, but I feel like I'm on the verge of a breakthrough. Oh, and team-night's at your place this Saturday, right, sir?"

"Yes, indeed-y, Carmichael. But it's your turn to pick out the movie."

Alex, O'Toole, and Ja'tok bantered playfully as they walked towards Alex's lab where they parted ways, the upcoming visit of two fan-girls completely removed from their thoughts.


End file.
